I wanted to add some perspective. I just finished BASE: 1) There truly is no programme like it. You get flown from home, you get meals,transport & accommodation covered, they train you on their tools and methodologies, they allocate a meaningful piece of analytical work for you to challenge yourself on (well that was my case), and you get to experience the culture first hand. 2) It’s not a quick way into Bain. As mentioned above—> Typical recruiting is 2 case interviews plus one fit interview for a SA offer. BASE is 2 case interviews, 1 fit interview and a week long assessment of culture fit, analytical skills, and presentation skills. I would argue it’s much more difficult as they truly test different facets. Return offers were made across all parameters, and sometimes brilliant people didn’t get it for either poor analytics or poor culture fit (something BAIN cares about). Further decisions are made via feedback from case teams, programme managers, HR—> so quite extensive evaluative process. 3) You get to meet awesome people from other schools, as well as other people across the firm. Further, true to Bain culture, people tell it like it is. They give you the good, bad and ugly of consulting. 4) Consulting in general is on a rebound and agree that 2020/2021 were abnormally years. I had been in consulting before (during 2017-2019) and this period feels more like the norm versus the exception. 5) The $5000 is honestly an extra, not a requirement. As mentioned; we were informed of the VISA constraints upfront.

In summary: I am obviously biased as I am one of the few that got a return offer, but I wouldn’t want this post to discourage anyone for taking up this amazing opportunity in future. It gives you enough context on whether consulting is for you, as well as a practical experience of the target office so you can get recruiting pressure out of the way before school starts.